The Power of Persistence

The Power Of Persistence:

I was reading a story about Jack LaLanne also known as the "Godfather of Modern Fitness" and was fascinated by the extraordinary fitness feats he accomplished and his successful career. Beyond the facts that he opened the first fitness center in 1936, had a long running TV show (for 34 years), invented a number of fitness machines and lived to the age of 96, he exhibited outstanding strength and endurance.

Some of his many fitness feats include:

• Doing 1,033 push ups in 23 minutes at age 42 ( world record).

• Doing 1,000 jumping jacks and 1,000 pull ups in 1 hour and 22 minutes at age 45.

• Swimming 1.5 miles along the California coast, while wearing handcuffs and shackles on his arms and legs and towing 70 row boats holding 70 people - To Celebrate his 70th Birthday

Jack LaLanne's 70th Birthday 1.5 Mile Swim- Towing 70 Boats With 70 People

How did he accomplish so much over the course of his career and lifetime ? He clearly showed persistence.. but what is persistence ? Persistence is defined as the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people. Jack LaLanne persistently followed the same daily routine for decades, focused on his most important goals - his health and fitness. He woke up the same time each day, exercised for 2 hours a day and ate 2 healthy meals a day with raw vegetables. He did not let distractions keep him from accomplishing his goals as proven by his many successes.

Persistence can be equally essential in achieving a projects goals. There are many obstacles on the path towards successful project completion. Some impediments are internal within the team and others may be external. However - You as the Project Manager, must be persistent to push forward- make that call you have been putting off or have that difficult conversation with team member or stakeholder, while keeping the project objectives in clear focus.

The successful completion of a project that is a win- win for the customer , the team , and stakeholders showcases the universe of small persistent steps taken along the way. This is an impressive feat by itself - although not nearly as dramatic as doing 1033 push ups in 23 minutes !